The invention relates to a method for producing a sensor-supported, synthetic view for landing support of helicopters under brown-out or white-out conditions.
During take-offs and landings of helicopters in dry desert-like or snow-covered areas, visibility is suddenly severely impaired during the final phase of the landing owing to the stirred up dust or snow. This effect is called brown-out or white-out. The visual ranges may in this case decrease within split seconds from VFR (visual flight rules) conditions to a visual range of less than a meter. The pilot loses orientation of his attitude, his altitude above the ground and also his own movements in relation to the ground (drift). A further problem is that situational awareness is completely lost, both in terms of static obstacles and with regard to obstacles that move towards the helicopter in the dust cloud. Accidents as a result of this are the biggest single cause of helicopter losses in the military field in these areas.
German Patent Document DE10 2004 051 625 B4 describes a general approach for generally solving the brown-out problem. This concept includes the use of a high-resolution 3-D sensor to produce a 3-D representation of the landing zone during the landing approach. No more new data is recorded after entry into the brown-out situation. Instead, the existing data is presented as a synthetic view of the landing zone together with the movement of the helicopter. This approach corresponds to the “see-and-remember concept”, which is often criticized by operational pilots, however, because changes in the landing zone once the dust cloud has been entered are no longer detected. During use, pilots reported many near-accidents as a result of vehicles or groups of people moving or running towards the helicopter, whilst it was still in the air, the pilot being unable to see them owing to the dust cloud.
International Patent Application Publication WO 2005/015333A3 describes a concept similar to DE 10 2004 051 625 B4. However, in this instance, the concept is described with much more focus on technical implementation with a plurality of sensor-suites in the context of the helicopter system as a whole. The solution presented in this instance relates primarily to a technical overall concept for a brown-out recovery system, wherein the connection of this system to an internal helicopter databus and the link to mission-specific information are highlighted.
European Patent Document EP 1 906 151 A1 also describes a method for pilot support by “see-and-remember”. In this case image sequences from one or more 2-D cameras are used as a database for “see-and-remember” representation. In addition to the abovementioned drawbacks in the event of changes after entering into brown-out, this poses the additional drawback that three-dimensional obstacles are displayed in a distorted manner, that is to say as texture, under otherwise optimal conditions.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to displaying to the pilot sudden dangers entering the landing zone, during the final phase of the landing approach in the brown-out cloud.
The invention proceeds from a method for pilot support during helicopter landings in visual flight under brown-out or white-out conditions, as is known from DE 10 2004 051 625 B1. According to the present invention, an additional radar sensor, for example an electronically scanning radar, is activated as soon as the monitoring routine detects that 3-D data has been recorded under brown-out or white-out conditions. This radar sensor continuously supplies data to continuously produce distance and/or Doppler data of potential objects entering the landing zone. These objects are displayed to the pilot of the landing helicopter as symbols in the synthetic view.